Letters on lessons from 1935, electing presidents, DNA ballyhoo
Lessons from 1935?
“No people ever recognize their dictator in advance,” Dorothy Thompson, head of the Berlin Bureau of the Saturday Evening Post, wrote in 1935. “He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument of the Incorporated National Will.” (Thompson was expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 when she infuriated Adolf Hitler with her dispatches warning Americans against the rise of Nazism.)
Applying the lesson to the U.S., she wrote: “When our dictator turns up you can depend on it that he will be one of the boys, and he will stand for everything traditionally American. And nobody will ever say ‘Heil’ to him, nor will they ever call him ‘Fuhrer’ or ‘Duce’ (Mussolini’s title). But they will greet him with one great big universal, democratic, sheeplike bleat of ‘Okay Chief!’”
And here we are.
Philip H. Schneider, Wichita
Electing presidents
Some say the popular vote should determine presidential elections. Others say this would disenfranchise small states and rural areas.
The Constitution preamble, in part, states, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union … ”; the Pledge of Allegiance states, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America …” They don’t say United Individuals of America.
The Continental Congress developed the Constitution by each state getting a vote. I propose a hybrid of popular and Electoral College elections — each state getting one vote determined by the popular vote. I believe this gives a voice to each individual and each state.
Richard A. Hopper, Derby
DNA ballyhoo
Some companies ballyhoo that they can determine from a specimen of saliva where our ancestors lived. With our innate curiosity, my sister and I decided to put one to a test. The results should be identical, especially since we are twins. The percentages for me were: Great Britain 52, Europe West 27 and Italy/Greece 8. For my sister they were: Great Britain 43, Italy/Greece 24 and Europe West 20. We definitely know that all our ancestors from 1548 to 1819 were born and lived in the far southwest corner of Germany, where it adjoins France and Switzerland, so it turns out that the ballyhoo is hooey.
David J. Gudeman, Wichita
Letters to the Editor
Include your full name, home address and phone number for verification purposes. All letters are edited for clarity and length; 200 words or fewer are best. Letters may be published in any format and become the property of The Eagle.
Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Wichita Eagle, 825 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67202
E-mail: letters@wichitaeagle.com
Fax: 316-269-6799
For more information, contact
Phillip Brownlee at 316-268-6262, pbrownlee@wichitaeagle.com.
This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 7:18 AM with the headline "Letters on lessons from 1935, electing presidents, DNA ballyhoo."